jRetrospedive Criticism, 7S 



by the act of swimming; neither would they be under the 

 necessity of having recourse to " a protracted struggle " in a 

 movement which requires no struggle at all. A bird struggling 

 in the act of swimming, in order to save itself from drowning, 

 is about the same as if we were to struggle in our usual act of 

 walking, lest we perish therein. The very mention of " a 

 protracted struggle " argues that the partridge cannot swim. 

 A partridge on the water is nearly in as great a scrape as a 

 shark on shore. The latter, by floundering, may, perchance, 

 get into the water again ; still we cannot say that a shark 

 moves surprisingly on land : and the former, by help of its 

 feet, may possibly reach the river's bank, through an element 

 as fatal to it as the shore is to the shark. All birds, whether 

 alive or dead, must naturally float on the surface of the water ; 

 but all birds cannot swim : otherwise those birds which we 

 commonly call land birds would have to be new-modelled in 

 form, and would require a very different kind of plumage. 



We startle at the novel information of a partridge " swim- 

 ming surprisingly," and we are anxious to know what sudden 

 change has taken place amongst the birds in the western 

 hemisphere, whilst our eastern birds remain in statu quo. 

 For example's sake, let us examine a waterhen, which, like 

 the partridge, is not web-footed; still it swims remarkably 

 w^ell. Its body is nearly similar in shape to a boat ; the 

 arrangement of its feathers is most admirably calculated to 

 resist the entrance of the water; while its every motion, when 

 in the act of swimming, is full of gracefulness and confidence. 

 It moves to and fro by a very gentle action of the feet, and it 

 may be seen, for hours together, enjoying itself on the deep in 

 perfect security. This bird may be truly said to swim sur- 

 prisingly ; but it is never doomed to keep up a protracted 

 struggle by means of muscular power, in order to save its life, 

 on an element where it runs no risk of perishing. 



Now let us look at a partridge floating on the river. The 

 form of its body is very unlike that of the waterhen, and, 

 though it cannot possibly sink, still it is in the utmost fear of 

 death, and tries to reach the shore by an evident and vehement 

 struggle. Its feathers immediately become saturated wuth 

 water, whilst the cold strikes deeply into its body. Death is 

 fast approaching; the wings are soaked with flapping on the 

 water, and at last appear extended quite motionless on the 

 surface of the stream ; the legs are cramped and stiffened ; 

 the mouth is open ; the head falls, and, after a few convul- 

 sive effc)rts to support itself, down it drops for the last time 

 into the water, and the bird dies. This is the fate of the 

 partridge which Mr. Audubon assures us can " swim sur- 



